STLV17: Writers Talk Technobabble, Timelines And How ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Is Telling Our War Story

The highlight of the first day of the Star Trek Las Vegas convention was an afternoon dedicated to the new CBS All Access show Star Trek: Discovery. The first panel featured writer/producers Ted Sullivan and Kirsten Beyer, and executive producer Akiva Goldsman showed up as a special guest.  They talked about a range of issues from canon to character, and took questions from fans.

Star Trek: Discovery is telling our war story

Possibly the most interesting exchange was about midway through the panel when Goldsman started talking about the themes and metaphors of the show and how they fit into the scale of it:

It has allowed us to be thematically deep. We are trying to be thoughtful and really trying to explore the kinds of issues that we think Star Trek has always explored. Not be cute about it. To be thoughtful and serious about the issues of race and inclusion and alliance and alienation. And also just blow up some spaceships in a great way. It is also epic in its scope and scale as a production object. It is not like a TV show when it comes to the representations of ships. It is like like the movies. It is a different aesthetic but it is that scope and scale.

Sullivan got more specific:

It blows me away and it is super exciting. But Star Trek has never been about the ships and the sets and the costumes and props for me. It is about what is the metaphor that they are exploring in that episode or that movie. It didn’t throw me when I saw [Star Trek] The Motion Picture and it looked different than the TV show. It didn’t throw me that Wrath of Khan looked different than The Motion Picture. I just liked what they were doing creatively and I understood the story that they were telling and especially the themes.

What I am most proud of that we are dealing with this version of Star Trek and it a serialized show so we can really explore it, it is about what is going on in the world right now. We have been at war for over fifteen years and that changes you and it challenges you to be your best version of yourself and sometimes you are not always so how do you find your way back from back. To me that is a very important use of what Star Trek can be. So yes, I freak out when I am standing on a bridge with Michelle Yeoh (Capt. Georgiou). I freak out when I am in an editing room. We were just talking about an episode we just saw and it is amazing like Wrath of Khan good, it is really good. So that is awesome, but it is not why I love Star Trek.

Ted Sullivan at Discovery writers’ panel at Star Trek Las Vegas 2017

Finding the boundaries of canon in the Prime timeline (not Kelvin)

Responding to a question about what it was like writing for Discovery when you have a deep knowledge of Star Trek, Ted noted there are sometimes downsides:

I think sometimes it gets in the way. I think of what Bruce Tim said once about making the Justice League cartoon. He came up with a pitch where they break the Green Lantern ring. Everyone said “You can’t do that, it is indestructible.” He said “I think we can, it will be good for the story.”… Sometime you need to know when to break the ring, and sometimes you need to know when you don’t. Luckily we have a lot of people in the room who will tell you when to break the ring when not to.

Beyer added:

I think that is a really good way to describe it. As much as you want to honor everything that has come before. As much as you want everything we are doing to feel part  of that universe, but at the same time you want to surprise people. You don’t want to inhibit the creative process that is happening in the room by constantly reminding everyone where the boundaries are. It is fun to let people step over the boundaries and reel them back in.

Goldsman did note that this doesn’t mean violating canon:

The operative assumption being that you cannot violate what we know to be canon so you better find out how to work within it. It turns out there are a bunch of ways in being inductive and creative. It is the difference between making it up and adapting. And by choosing a period of time that is within canon it turns storytelling into adaptations.

During the Q&A they were asked how the show ties together with the recent Star Trek feature films. Akiva Goldsman noted that there were similar production elements but not in terms of the canon:

Very mildly, sort of in various ways. Star Trek itself is complicated. Enterprise which gets a bad rap is its own thing as is DS9 as is The Original Series as is The Animated Series. We are bigger than any of the shows so in that way we are more like the movies. Our sets are giant and more very filmic. We are very visual effects heavy. You can’t point the camera without pointing at a green screen. It’s big! So in that way we are like the movies. I can only say this, we are not in the Kelvin timeline. We are in The Original Series timeline. So we resonate with those stories. We are the precursor. We are ten years before TOS so we are telling those sorts of stories.

 

How serialized storytelling conflicts with the ‘Roddenberry Rule’

The panel also picked up on previous reporting that Discovery was not adopting the “Roddenberry Rule” of having no conflict within the main cast. Goldsman talked about how you can tell a story of a utopian vision with conflict:

What we are trying to do is suggest that the vision of the Federation, which is a utopian vision of the future and which is really vital, as vital today as it was in the 60s. We are not very neutral about that. Our bridge looks like our bridge not by accident. We are proud to be the heir of the first interracial kiss on television. We are proud to be an object that intends to talk about how peoples and cultures that live together and how we forge ties. That is what Star Trek is. Star Trek is to me about empathy. So fundamentally the idea that there is no conflict on the way to utiopia is absurd and it wouldn’t be good storytelling.

He then went into detail on how the Roddenberry Rule wouldn’t work with serialized storytelling:

The idea of the Roddenberry Rule which again I think has found its own life even more so after the original series – doesn’t work at all in serialized storytelling. Jim Kirk could watch Edith Keeler die and be literally ruined by it and be fine the next week, because he had to be. And that is not the truth of serialized storytelling today. Our characters carry their losses with them from episode to episode. They carry their love that they start to feel or animosity or the trust or mistrust. All those are the grammars of forging community both in a fractal way as Sonequa Martin-Green’s character and in a global way as the Federation is tested and these ideals in the context of war.

Akiva Goldsman at Discovery writers panel at Star Trek Las Vegas 2017

A huge show

Goldsman drew a comparison with his previous work on the Fox show Fringe when talking about the scale of Discovery:

That was typical sized smart TV sci-fi. It doesn’t hold a candle to what we are doing. The complexity, the narrative ambition, and the scope of the object. And that trailer isn’t every effects shot, that really is the show. Most of that is from the first three episodes. It is so tremendous that it’s kind of holding hands and jumping together.

And Ted compared Discovery to his work on Revenge:

I worked on Revenge for a bunch of seasons which is a heavily serialized show. It was incredibly difficult to write. It was so much backstory and each episode had to build on the other and try to make sense of a giant jigsaw puzzle. That is what we do with this and there is a huge amount of extra burden on it because it is Star Trek.

Yes, there will be technobabble

With all the talk of war and character development does Discovery skimp on the science? Beyer delved into this one:

Star Trek always tries to be true to science as much as it can but some of what we do is beyond our grasp at this point. But it what it does have is a very specific internal logic. So as long we understand what the Heisenberg Compensator is and what it does we can accept it without breaking that stuff down. In a lot of ways as the role of science in what we are doing and not so much exploring new concepts that are going to be breaking all kinds of new ground in that way. But making sure that whatever we are building makes sense.

Sullivan noted that the staff includes many with science backgrounds, including Ph.Ds, and so there will be some tech in Star Trek: Discovery:

All of us have a love for science and a respect for science and it infuses our scripts and it infuses our stories.

He also confirmed that there still will be technobabble. He noted that most of the actors don’t always love rattling off the tech terms but Anthony Rapp (science officer Stamets) is “amazing at it.”

Ted Sullivan of Star Trek: Discovery at STLV 2017

Ted Sullivan of Star Trek: Discovery at STLV 2017

Character details for Stamets and Saru

The writers also gave some more details on the characters of science officer Lt. Paul Stamets and Saru.

He is a guy who presents with a certain exterior that tends to push people away so what is fun is finding the ways that find a softer, kinder side that is there. What I find amazing about Saru is what Doug [Jones] brought to it. I think we were all searching for who this guy is going to be. Doug has so brought to life this person with this incredible brilliance but also this warmth and compassion and sense of humor and dry wit that is making the evolution of that character fun to watch.

Sullivan added,

[Saru] makes you laugh and he makes you cry in the same episode. I think that is a really, really important aspect of Star Trek. You need to have humor and you certainly need to have pathos. Doug is certainly a worthy torchbearer from Spock to Data.

He also described a Saru-focused episode written by Beyer:

It will feel like the most traditional Star Trek, the most beautiful. What Doug does is just simply jaw-dropping. You will find out so much about his culture and there are so many surprises about him.

Goldsman added that it is hard to describe the characters because each has their own arc:

The characters present in a particular way – each and every one of them – at the start of the show. The title is not an accident. This is long-form storytelling based on character. That is not to say we don’t have plot because god we have plot. Fundamentally our runner is character-driven.

Akiva Goldsman of Star Trek: Discovery at Star Trek Las Vegas 2017

Akiva Goldsman of Star Trek: Discovery at Star Trek Las Vegas 2017

New ways to experience Klingons (and some Vulcans too)

Talking about the Klingon aspects of the show, Beyer confirmed they are working with Klingon language experts for Discovery, and she spoke of her experience expanding the lore of the Klingons:

It is has been super fun to take a species that in some ways feel well-established but in a a lot of ways when you dig into they have been monolithic. Their duty and their honor. And to image what a certain period in their history might have produced has been incredibly fun and has given us all kinds of new ways to talk about and experience Klingons.

Goldsman added a note on the Federation-Klingon war:

One of the driving forces of this war was to not vilify either side. The show is often told from both points of view. It is certainly about the Federation, but there are significant section of the narrative that are purely from the Klingon point of view and in Klingon. That allows the audience to participate in the debate of who is right and who is wrong.

During the Q&A they were asked if the show would dive into more known Star Trek cultures. It appears not so much, with Goldsman saying:

Klingons are the focus but there is definable a medium deep dive into Vulcans and what it means to be Vulcan. And there are some old fan favorites but not with any real penetrative depth.

Kirsten Beyer at Discovery writers’ panel at Star Trek Las Vegas 2017

Star Trek passion in the writers’ room

Each of the three talked of their passion and history with the franchise. Goldsman talked about how he went to his first Star Trek convention as a 14-year-old in 1976 in New York.

[Star Trek] was the first thing I ever loved. It was the first piece of television that I had a relationship with. It is insane that I get to do this. The 14-year-old in me wakes up stunned and grateful. I talked J.J. [Abrams] into putting me into both movies. I have cameos in both. I am so proud and thrilled and moved by doing that I actually almost got a divorce over this. It has become the single most important thing in my life.

Kirsten talked about her first memories of Star Trek , watching it with her brother as a child as it was the only show they could both agree on, noting:

My first memory is sitting in front of this TV show that was so amazing – I love it.

She said later in the life it was Star Trek: Voyager that inspired her to become a writer. She has written many Voyager novels and she joked it only took 20 years for her to reach her dream of writing for a Star Trek TV show.

Ted Sullivan said he had been watching Star Trek since he was eight years old, after he fell in love with it watching “City on the Edge of Forever.” He later focused on reading the books, both fiction and non-fiction. And later he began his writing career when he and his brother took it upon themselves to write a sequel to Star Trek III after they became obsessed with that film. He gave a brief synopsis:

They were flying back in the Bird of Prey and they get captured by the Klingons. There is a war that is brewing and Kirk has to broker a peace which is very difficult for him because he just lost his son to the Klingons. So there are some ties to what we are doing now.

Sullivan also pointed out that it isn’t just the Trekkies who were sent to STLV, the writers’ room in general has a love for Trek:

We are really lucky in the room…We have people that are supportive that when someone is on the board they come in early and they stay late. There is a mutual love and respect for Star Trek because literally everyone in the room loves Star Trek and understand how important it. These people on the couch with me are partially writers because of Star Trek, I am partially a writer because of Star Trek. There are others.

However it isn’t all uniform, he said:

I think the room is hard. We argue some times. We have different opinions of what Star Trek is. It is different things to different people.

Kirsten Beyer and Ted Sullivan of Star Trek: Discovery at STLV 2017

Kirsten Beyer and Ted Sullivan of Star Trek: Discovery at STLV 2017

Jason Gorn cameo

Sullivan brought his friend Jason Gorn (a tiny Gorn action figure that has sort of become a social media-fueled mascot for the writers) to the con. He reported that there are many more behind-the-scenes photos from the set with Jason and promised he will be able to share those in the future.

Jason Gorn cameo at Star Trek Las Vegas 2017

 

Stay tuned for more coverage from Star Trek Las Vegas!

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I’m loving everything I’m hearing!

Me, too. I honestly don’t know if these folks have the goods to pull this show off, but as a lifelong fan–a period longer than bears thinking about at this point–I can’t find anything objectionable in what’s been said here, and much to appreciate. If DSC doesn’t succeed, it won’t be for the lack of good intentions on the part of these people, as well as their hard work. Yet all some want to do is vilify that work, literally sight unseen aside from a couple of brief trailers. Pretty incredible, but I guess that’s where we live now.

Agreed.

@Michael Hall

These people who want to vilify the show without seeing it are complete hypocrites. If the producers had chosen to replicate the 60s TOS aesthetic, they would complain that it looks too primitive. They don’t like the fact that the show isn’t going to emulate the TOS/TNG storytelling formula- but have also complained multiple times about VOY/ENT being sub par and too much like TNG.

I wouldn’t pay those people much Mind, unless it’s to point out their hypocrisy. They’ll eventually get it. Meanwhile, the rest of us can sit back and bask in what is increasingly shaping up to be an incredible moment in the Star Trek franchise <3

Except that VOY and ENT indeed WERE too much like TNG. Entire episodes could’ve been lifted and transplanted to TNG without any significant change in the script. Both shows used their respective unique setting much less than they should.

Especially VOY would have been so much better as a properly serialized story-driven drama, without all the TNG leftovers sticking out of every hole.

Or, if they had replicated the look of 60’s sets, and others said it looks too primitive, the whiners would be telling them to get over it and wait til they see it.

Its a minority though. The same handful of people over and over. They are so dug in now, that even if Discovery is the greatest show ever, they will never admit it.

When people post here every day and claim they wont watch, who are they kidding. Yeah right.

Or its the one hit wonders who pop in and leave an idiotic remark, often times showing bigotry or racism and never come back.

Very Trump like when they claim EVERYONE is down on the show or SO MANY wont watch. The excitement is very apparent among an overwhelming number of people on Star Trek sites.

And the truth is, this series needs a lot more than Trek fans to watch. Trek has always needed more than their core base to make anything succeed.

You’re right, more than the core base is needed to make Discovery success. However, with the series being on CBS All Access in the US, this won’t happen. Nobody wants to pay for yet another streaming service. Especially with a service as limited compared to others as All Access is. It should’ve been put on Netflix in the US if they wanted to do streaming, or on the BBC America or SyFy networks. It would’ve done well on those networks & would’ve reached a wider audience on Netflix. I can’t see either Discovery or CBS All Access lasting very long as long as they’re linked. All Access will be shut down & Discovery will be cancelled or All Access will be shut down & Discovery will be moved to Netflix or a network like CW, SyFy, or BBC America.

@ Trekkie88: You claim that “nobody wants to pay for yet another streaming service” when quite a lot of commenters here have already stated their willingness to do just that. Of course, it’s your choice not to sign up for CBS All Access but don’t claim to speak for everybody.

Please, explain one thing to me. This is supposedly 10 years before TOS. It is also supposedly in the Prime timeline. We know what the ships and uniforms looked like 10 years before TOS, because we have seen “The Menagerie.”

If the continuity of the canon means nothing to you, why do you watch “Star Trek?”

@Michael Hall,

Let me get this straight, based on “a couple of brief trailers” and cast interviews it’s perfectly appropriate for you to express your appreciation for ‘Discovery’, but it’s VILIFYING & ABHORRENT if others who have seen the same trailers and read the same interviews expressed different opinions than yours?

It must be puzzling for you to see that, unlike the Borg Collective, humans tend to have different opinions, shocking!

Yes, of course it is Ahmed. We are Star Trek fans and we’re getting the first new TV series in over a decade. We’re excited and there’s reason to be optimistic. Dont get me wrong, I have reservations such as the look of the new Klingons but I’m not going to cry about it as I’ve only seen “a couple of brief trailers” with zero context. Hopefully, I’ll be thrilled when I finally get to watch it or maybe I won’t but I’ll make that judgment when I get to see actual episodes,

Well said Ahmed.

Great coverage. Thankyou trekmovie…

Translation: They are going to ignore canon while still claiming it is canon.

It is canon. Just not the Prime Universe. And probably not Kelvin/Abramsverse. This will be a new universe: Disco Universe.

They reiterated that it is absolutely, 100% PRIME. Knock it off.

@ Mark: It’s always interesting to see how different people interpret completely different things into what was said.

@DIGINON,

Indeed. Get 10 people in a room and show them the same clip; they will most likely give you different responses to that clip.

“Sometime you need to know when to break the ring, and sometimes you need to know when you don’t.”

An excellent metaphor for their approach to the series. Let’s hope they get the balance right!

Regarding this transcript: Do they all really talk without using almost any contractions? I felt like I was reading quotes from Data at points.

Yeah there needs to be better transcripts of these interiveiws, I was having trouble deciphering it sometimes.

Hmmm… this better be good. I’m nowhere near as excited about the whole war-malarkey as I am about the chance to get to know new characters that will hopefully be more than mere cardboard cutouts (yes, also the Klingons, whose look I’m still sorta skeptical about) and maybe — mayyybe see some actual sci-fi concepts in Trek-guise …

It feels like the writers and producers will get DISCO right. I’m very excited about the new show and nervous at the same time. It might take a season or two to get the series in a direction most people will love. Time will tell.
Break a leg DISCO crew!

Well, they’re saying all the right things.

Waiting for the usual suspects to come along and say this is the Kelvin timeline. Loll

Ok, now I’m not trying to be nit picky here, I’m not but someone help me out here. Ok, now WAS there mention of a war between the Federation and Klingons around this time? Because I don’t ever remember it ever being mentioned. NOW before people start typing I realize as long as no one ever said there was no conflicts between Klingons and the Federation then technically its fine.

I’m just confused because they keep going on about ‘canon’ but is any of that actual canon or are they just squeezing it in? I really don’t know. And is THIS what Fuller was talking about when he said there was an incident that happened in this era we don’t really know about? I mean I watched TOS but outside of an odd episode here and there I haven’t watched it on a serious level in years. More like decades.

Yes I have heard about Axanar but from what I understand that is not that. And didn’t that happen a lot earlier? So yeah, confused.

But in general its mostly all good stuff. The only thing that bothered me is when they said the season will mostly just be about Klingons and Vulcans. Enterprise already did a great job with the Vulcans IMO and I don’t mind more stories with them but yeah it would be nice to see others. Klingons I’m frankly tired of but I have accepted thats what the show is about so hopefully they will give us a very different angle on them at least.

Actually, it’s kind of clear that there was *never* a war between the Federation and the Klingons. (At least not until DS9.) That’s the basis of the entire manner the two interact during TOS and beyond. The obvious parallel was the US and the USSR.

I really hope they know that, and keep it in mind.

Uhh, no. In “Errand of Mercy” there was a full-scale war between the two, stopped short by the Organians.

Good for you !! I was wondering if I was so totally geeky ( at 50…lol ), that I was the only one to remember that reference in that exact episode.

There were conflicts throughout the 23rd century between the Klingons and Federation, including the short war that occurred in “Errand of Mercy,” which is ended by the Organians. There were also references to general hostilities and the First Contact between the Federation and Klingons being a disaster. So although no specific war has been mentioned in this period.

I think the “medium dive” they mentioned about the Vulcans is probably mainly focused on the backstory of Burnham and her relationship with Sarek. It sounds like they’re trying to do something interesting with the Klingons based on a lot of what the producers, writers, and actors have been saying, so hopefully that is the case.

@MattR — I was wondering about the Vulcan statement, and thought it was odd considering the choice to make Burnham an adopted ward of Sarek, or whatever she is. That’s an important connection to make, only to diminish the role Vulcans will play. But as you point out, it may be reference to the relative focus on the Klingon’s as a race, and Burnaham’s personal struggle.

There is a remark in the description of the prequel novel that states Burnham has to turn to someone she hasnt spoken to in years or something. I wonder if that would be Sarek. or Spock.

@ TUP: I got the feeling it might be referring to Spock.

Im intrigued and slightly concerned with one thing. And it might just be because of what Orci did. But I get the sense they want to show us the perspective from the Klingons to the extent that we are not meant to think they are bad, per se, but just from their perspective they are doing the right thing.

Whereas Orci wanted to make the US (Star Fleet) the bad guys in the war on terrorism and show the terrorists only exist because of our actions. And while I appreciateb deeper story telling, I think you have to be careful using the sort of moral guilt on the “west” to explain away every bad deed done by the other side.

I dont want to feel like Star Fleet is bad. I want them to be us, good humans that are sometimes flawed but ultimately fighting for the right side.

I picked up on that too. I would tend to think the people involve understand it was more of a cold war then open conflict. And they might be retconning it a bit.

Its possible the idea is there WAS open conflict at this time..and by Kirk’s time it had cooled to a cold war before ramping back up when the Organians interfered.

Im okay if thats the case because it was never said there wasnt open conflict. It was just played as more of a cold war throughout TOS. We know very little about the era portrayed in Discovery so they will have a lot of leeway with some of these ideas.

I dont think they will do 7 years of war either. So I think we will see a sense of “cold war” continuing on.

There was mention of this somewhere, i think first contact, where they mention how first contact with the Klingons went very bad implying battles if bolt war

Im NOT loving what Im hearing…sorry…this sounds as if the show is going to be “all about the war” only..why call the show “Discovery” when it seems there is no actual discovery going on. Star Trek is discovering things, new cultures and civilisations…not the nTH war story that could easily be told in any other franchise.

From the interviews I took it that “Discovery” does not refer to discovering a new world each week, but that it refers to discovering yourself and discovering (i.e. understanding) the people around you, including your opponent. From these new interviews, it sounds like we will get a lot of the Klingon point of view, so we will really discover both sides of the conflict. Could be interesting.

@Diginon — exactly, and that was the basis of most Trek episodes. Indeed VOY is about the only Trek series that actually discovered a new world every episode. What I disliked about TNG, is they would likely spend an episode discovering some new bug in the fake holodeck, as exploring some new “real” culture or civilization. It usually they did discover something about themselves in that holodeck, which is what I’m expecting here.

And the overwhelming complaint about Voyager was that it was boring, nothing happened and when it did, they hit the reset button every week.

Ill take war over that.

And ultimately, if people dont like the plot, so be it. CBS cant poll one million trek fans and then make a show for every single one of them. This is their plan for season one.

I like what I’m hearing but as they say, the proof will be in the pudding on September 24th.

Reading the arguments about what’s canon and what’s not, I’m reminded of a quotable line from Enterprise (probably the only quotable line).

Commander T’Pol: He brought logic to Vulcan, in an age we call the Time of Awakening. But his writings from that period no longer exist.

Captain Jonathan Archer: There must be some record of it.

Commander T’Pol: Over the centuries, his followers made copies of his teachings.

Captain Jonathan Archer: Let me guess: with the originals lost, whatever’s left is open to interpretation.

Commander T’Pol: You find this amusing?

Captain Jonathan Archer: I find it familiar.

The best thing they can do is ditch any Roddenberry influence. IMHO.

Meaning, Roddenberry never brought anything of value to the table, at all, ever? Really? Wow.

I think he means more it’s time to look past the Roddenberry aesthetic and make a truly 21st century Trek

They did. It was Deep Space 9!

I would love if we can get something on that level again.

I second that!

Character driven? It’s not a space opera anymore, it’s a soap opera…in space. I’m less than thrilled. I cab only hope the end result changes my mind.

‘Discovery’ is shaping up to be Battlestar Galactica lite with all this talk about war and conflict among the crew. If they manage at least to create interesting multi-layered characters then it would be worth watching.

I still don’t like the focus on Klingons & their 24 houses or whatever. Rather than going with a well-established aliens like the Klingons they should have gone with a different & unfamiliar species. Something that we have never seen before like the Federation-Sheliak conflict for example.

It is so sad that Star Trek seems to be stuck in trying to relive the TOS era.

They’re comparing an episode to “The Wrath of Khan”.

Well, I’ll say this for them: they’re certainly setting an admirably difficult goalpost to surmount.

They are young and naive. Discovery has to find its own level. Forget WOK or whatever else. It is pointless comparing this to a product that is over 30 years old now.

Yes, there will be technobabble.

Aw, s**t…..

Nice to hear we are getting a backstory episode explaining Lt. Saru. I’ve had some questions about how his species survives on the planet as food for the dominant one without going extinct. In regards to the technobabble It’s good to know that Anthony Rapp doesn’t mind doing it since it seems like his character will have a lot of that. I know for some actors, like Terry Farrell, it was hard to learn how to say that stuff. As a result she has said that she struggled in her early days on DS9. As she got better at saying it though her performance seemed more authentic.

In nature there is usually a balance between predator and prey. Basically, hunting its prey to extinction would also end the predator unless there’s an alternative food source. Lt. Stamet’s expertise is such a specific field of science I just hope they make some real effort to “get it right”. I’d be disappointed if they have him use big words but everybody with a little science background immediately goes “bullshit”.

In regards to Saru I would agree with that but how does it work when the two species are sentient? On our planet we have conservationist who fight for the animals. On his planet how does the fighting for them go? Are they okay being prey? Do they want to be treated as equals?

As for Staments, I agree with your points, there should be some level of authenticity to his work.

I love the idea of a new star trek series and i am interested in a star trek war, different look at klingon culture and history and i understand the need for serialised storytelling and visuals but one thing im struggling to get and its not a complaint only a curiosity, if the show is set in the timeline canon of the original series then why the different uniforms, i get they wanted to do something knew and accept that but the cage is thirteen years before the menagerie but discovery is ten years before, shouldn’t the uniforms be the same / updated version of captain pikes uniform as for the bridge i don’t see how with a large budget and today’s CGI a modern take on the original starfleet ships couldn’t be achieved, all it took was a similar tone and shape, replace computer screens with updated screen and graphics and make it bigger for realism yet still capture the look, its not about living in star trek 60s era past its about commom sense, even at the time of TNG when they did the relics episode they accepted that the starfleet bridged looked that way in that time, if that is no longer so then it is a seperate universe slash time line, which is good means more storytelling freedom but face none the less.